


Safe & Sound

by thekumquat



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Fluff, Mentions of Violence, Panic Attacks, overprotective symbiote, with some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 11:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16743298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekumquat/pseuds/thekumquat
Summary: Eddie gets hurt and has to heal the old fashioned way. Venom blames itself, and gets a little overprotective in the aftermath.





	Safe & Sound

**Author's Note:**

> This was a commission for @snuffes on tumblr! You can find me on tumblr as bigassmagnet or bigasswritingmagnet.

“Hi Eddie, how are you feeling?” Anne was using her you’re-hurt-and-it-is-for-once-not-your-fault voice, which Eddie always liked.

“Oh, I’m doing pretty good. I heal quick these days, so y’know.  But hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”

Normally Anne would ask for details before committing to anything, because she knew Eddie. This time, though, it really _hadn’t_ been Eddie’s fault that he got stabbed by an interviewee so she just said “sure, what is it?”

“If I give you a list, can you run to the store and pick some stuff up for me?”

“I thought the doctors told you that you could walk around now.”

Eddie sighed and glanced at the door, which was plastered over by a large black puddle of goo. The goo hissed at him.

“Yeah, the _doctors_ said I could leave.”

 

A soft knock on the door made Venom retreat from its post, enough for Eddie to open the door and let Anne in.

“Hey, how are…you…” Anne watched in not-so-mild alarm as Venom plastered itself back over the door. “Uh…”

“Long story,” Eddie sighed. Then he brightened. “Hey, you brought it! Thanks.”

Anne held the bags out. Eddie reached for them, but there was a loud hiss and a thick black tentacle erupted from the goo to wrap itself around the handles.

“He’s not supposed to carry heavy things!” Venom snarled. Eddie groaned and rolled his eyes.

“He’s been like this since we got back from the hospital,” he explained as the tentacle deposited the bags on the counter. They watched as the tentacle split into several smaller ones, and began to put away the groceries. “And I thought you were bad.”

“I wasn’t _bad_ ,” Anne protested, without vitriol. “You just don’t know how to take care of yourself—” She cut off with a yelp as Venom’s face emerged beside her.

“ _Exactly!”_ it snarled. “The doctors said eat healthy! Don’t lift heavy things! Be careful on the stairs! Not to exert himself! That is not a bag of Cheetos and leg day exercises!”

Eddie just sighed, and Venom retreated back inside with one final glare.

“He’s just grumpy because he’s not allowed to fix it all at once,” Eddie explained. Anne gave him her patented _oh Eddie, you adorable idiot, could you possibly be any more dense_. “What?”

“No, nothing. I’m sure that’s exactly why he’s so upset.”

“I got stabbed in front of a whole bunch of people! If I got fixed in ten seconds, they’d be asking a _lot_ of questions.”

Venom growled low in the back of Eddie’s mind.

“Oh, I understand,” Anne said. When Eddie continued to look confused, she elaborated. “I think you should maybe try and talk to him about it.”

“I tried that. He can _not_ be reasoned with.”

“I am not compromising on your health, Eddie!”

“See?”

 “Not what I meant. God, you can be so dense,” she said fondly and patted his cheek.

“Hey, how’s Dan?” Eddie asked, suddenly desperate to change the topic.

“Not even remotely subtle, Eddie,” Anne said with a grin. “He’s fine. Still grumpy they won’t let him take over. He’s convinced this is some sort of political power play by Dr Harmond.” Anne rolled her eyes. “’He’s only taking this on because Eddie’s a big name and he wants the attention, he’s going to try and leverage this to get himself on the committee, he doesn’t actually care about Eddie’s health…’” She waved her hand to indicate that this could go on for quite some time, if allowed.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Eddie said with a grin, then hurried filed away that warm fuzzy feeling under ‘things that will make my life way too complicated, deal with this never’.

“Just a warning, he might try and get you in for a “checkup”.” Anne still did finger quotes like it was the nineties. It was one of Eddie’s favorite things about her. “He’s still a little worried about _you know who’s_ effect on you.”

Eddie really needed to explain how this worked to Anne, again. It didn’t matter how low she dropped her voice, Venom was _in his brain_.

“I’m taking care of him!” it roared. Anne patted the side of its face the same way she’d patted Eddie, with a similar look.

“I know you are.”

This time, Venom’s expression was bewildered alarm, and it slid back inside Eddie about as fast as he’d ever seen it go. He and Anne shared looks of amusement before she checked her watch.

“I’ve got to get back to work, but I’ll call you later and check in, okay?”

“Okay.” Eddie returned her gentle hug, Venom tugging at his brain to keep him mindful of his stitches. Venom again pulled back to let Anne out, but the conversation clearly had not changed its mind about letting Eddie leave the house.

 **Twelve o’clock,** it rumbled in his ear. **You have to take your meds.**

Eddie sighed and let it steer him towards the bathroom.

 

 

Eddie wasn’t good at doing nothing. He liked to be in motion, working out, talking to people, moving, _doing_. There was only so much sleep and so many movie marathons a guy could take before he started to go nuts.

“C’mon Venom,” he wheedled. “I’m not going to go climbing walls or getting into fist fights. I just want to take a walk.”

**No.**

“The doctor said I need fresh air.”

A tentacle emerged from the goop blocking the door and slid open a window.

“Not what I meant. I’m going crazy in here, V. Just ten minutes, okay? Down to Mrs. Chen’s and back again. That’s it.”

Venom was wavering; Eddie could feel it. Venom _liked_ Mrs. Chen. She gave them free chocolate bars and called Venom ‘gross but cute’, which pleased Venom for some inexplicable reason.

 “Anne didn’t bring any chocolate,” he pointed out.

That did it. The goo receded from the door and back into Eddie until the way was free and clear.

“Relax, buddy,” Eddie said. “It’s gonna be fine.”

Stepping outside the building was a relief. Eddie took in a deep breath and sighed happily. The air wasn’t particularly great – the dirty side of San Francisco would always smell like exhaust, garbage, and dead fish. But the sky was blue and the sun was shining, and that was all that was needed to put a spring in Eddie’s step.

He let his feet walk him down the road towards Mrs. Chen’s. At five o’clock on the dot, rush hour traffic was only just starting to build, so there wasn’t too much foot traffic. Eddie wrangled his earbuds out of his pocket and tucked it into his ear. After a quick check to make sure it was actually plugged into his phone (he’d made that mistake before), he set off.

“See?” he said. “I’m not exerting myself. I’m just walking. Nothing to be worried about.”

Venom said nothing, so Eddie let himself enjoy the walk and the stretch in his legs.

Mrs. Chen looked up when the bell chimed as Eddie walked in. She actually smiled at him.

“Eddie, how are you feeling?”

“Pretty good,” he said, “all things considered. Doctor says I’m healing okay.” He gently patted his side. “I just wanted to take a little walk, pick up some things.”

“Nothing heavy!” she cautioned.  Eddie threw his hands up in only-slightly-mock exasperation.

“What are you, my doctor? Everybody’s on my case today.”

“Oh, people care about you, how annoying.”

Eddie flapped a hand at her rather than admit she was right, and went to peruse the shelves.

“What are you in the mood for?” he asked Venom. He got no answer. Eddie sighed and picked out a bag of chicken nuggets in dinosaur shapes. “I’ll let you bite the heads of first,” he promised. Instantly he felt Venom perk up.

**Yessssss. And put them in separate piles and then _eat them!_**

“You got it buddy,” Eddie agreed with a grin. He’d never understand Venom’s obsession with separating heads from bodies and piling them up, but it was one he was happy to indulge. In certain circumstances, at least.

He also made sure to pick up a few bottles of Hershey’s chocolate syrup. At first he’d taken to drinking a lot of chocolate milk, but now Venom just drank it straight out of the bottle. When it got down to the dregs, Eddie would unscrew the cap, and Venom would slither inside, sucking up every last drop until the bottle was dry as a bone.

“Just these today, Mrs. Chen,” he said, dumping his purchases on the counter. Mrs. Chen raised a finger.

“Wait here.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow as she disappeared into the back room.

“Should I be worried?” he called.

“Shut up,” she called back. When she came back, she was holding two mason jars, the contents of which were watery and filled with floating bits Eddie very much didn’t want to try and guess the nature of.

“This one, add to half a cup of hot water and drink twice a day. This one, soak on a bandage and hold against the wound.” She gave him a stern look that brooked no arguments. “Do _not_ get them mixed up.”

Eddie forced his grimace into a smile.

“Uh, thanks Mrs. Chen. Appreciate it.”

She set a bar of dark chocolate next to the jars.

“And this for your friend.”

Venom emerged, small enough not to be seen through the window by passersby, and sniffed at it.

“70 percent,” it purred happily. Mrs. Chen patted it on the head. Anybody else would have lost a few fingers, but Venom’s soft spot for her would let her get away with just about anything. If Eddie hadn’t seen her once pinch Venom’s cheek and live to tell about it, he’d never believe it.

“Such a good boy,” she said.

“He eats people,” Eddie reminded her.

“Nobody’s perfect.”

By the time Eddie left the store, rush hour had picked up, and he had to weave his way through the crowd.

“When we get home, I’ll cook these up, and then we’ll watch the old _War of the Worlds_ movie. How does that sound?” Eddie had at first assumed that Venom wouldn’t like movies where aliens died brutal or ignominious deaths, but Venom actually preferred them. It liked to feel superior, and it could gloat about _War of the Worlds_ for hours.

Eddie had decided not to show it _Signs_ , in case Venom died from sheer egotistical overload.

But instead of snickering about morons who invaded a planet without proper research or biohazard protocols, Venom only grunted in assent.

 _“_ V?”

There seemed to be an awful lot of people out today, especially for a Tuesday evening. Eddie found his eyes flicking from face to face. Why were so many of them looking at him? He had his headphones in, so he didn’t look like he was talking to himself. Everyone seemed to be looking, judging. He hunched his shoulders and picked up the pace.

Every time he had to stop, his anxiety increased. Waiting at the crosswalk with a crowd of people made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He couldn’t keep an eye on all of these people at once. There were too many of them, all around them. He needed to get home, where it was safe, and he needed to get there _now._  

A middle-aged woman was heading straight towards him, her expression dark and dangerous, radiating an aura of sheer malevolence. Then Eddie blinked, and she was simply following the flow of the crowd, wearing the vacant expression of someone walking a route they’d long since memorized.

Eddie shook his head to clear it. What was going on in his head? Why did he feel like someone was going to jump out at him at any second? Venom was writhing inside him, trembling with anticipation.

Someone’s shoulder slammed into his. Venom tried to burst out of his skin, ready to bite, to rend, to _kill_ —

“No!” Eddie shouted, jerking away. He slammed into the wall and squeezed his eyes shut. He bore down with every ounce of self-control, holding Venom in. “What are you _doing_?” he ground out.

**Attacked us! Will hurt us! Need to hurt them first!**

“Stop it!” he hissed quietly. “Stop stop _stop_ , you _can’t_. We had a _deal_!”

Bit by bit, Venom subsided, hissing and muttering angrily. Eddie dared to open his eyes. Now people _were_ staring, in that ‘trying not to look like they’re staring at the weirdo in the street’ way. At least they were giving him a wide berth. “What’s the _matter_ with you?”

Venom was silent, sulking.

“Okay,” Eddie said. “We’re going home, and then we’re going to talk.”

 

Eddie took the time to put the chicken nuggets in the freezer first, but as soon as that was done, he went into the bathroom. Setting his hands on both sides of the sink, he looked into the mirror.

“Talk to me,” he said.

**No.**

“Tell me what’s wrong. You’ve _never_ freaked out like that before!”

When he got no response, Eddie started to lose his temper.

“You know, sometimes I start to feel like this is really one sided! You can see everything that’s going on in my head, but then you shut me out! We’re a team! We’re _us_! Why won’t you trust—”

 **I let you get hurt!** Venom roared, appearing suddenly in the mirror. Eddie jumped, though at least this time he didn’t fall into the bathtub.

“What?”

 **You were hurt! I didn’t protect you! I wasn’t paying attention! He stabbed you, and I couldn’t even eat him! I can’t even fix you!** Venom seemed to shrink in on itself. **I could have lost us, and it’s all my fault. _Loser_. Can’t even protect my host. _Parasite._**

“What? Hey, no, no way, buddy. Hey, come here.”

With great reluctance, Venom materialized in front of Eddie. Venom felt more comfortable inside of Eddie, being bonded as one, but Eddie needed physical contact. It didn’t resist when Eddie sat down on the edge of the tub and wrapped his arms around it, cradling it to his chest.

“It wasn’t your fault. These things happen. It’s not your fault or my fault. It’s nobody’s—well, okay, not _nobody’s,_ but it’s Fagen’s fault, not yours. He’s the one who decided to stab me just for asking questions.”

“I wasn’t _looking_ ,” Venom growled. “This time, I will look. I will look _everywhere_.”

“You can’t do that. You’ll drive yourself nuts. You can’t predict what people are going to do, and you can’t keep me safe from everything.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Thick tendrils wrapped around Eddie’s torso and arms, almost up his neck, squeezing.

**No! I can! I _can!_**

“What are you going to do? Lock me away? Keep me trapped in here?”

**You’re not trapped! You’re _safe!_**

“Venom, listen to me—”

**No! You’re safe here, I can keep you safe!**

 “ _Venom_ —”

And Venom showed him. Eddie felt the terror when the knife sank into his side, its panicked confusion when Eddie wouldn’t let it fix up the wound or eat the man who hurt him. It didn’t understand, it was frightened and confused and _helpless_.

Eddie sighed. The tentacles retracted slightly, freeing Eddie’s arms and legs. A few slid up into Eddie’s hair, stroking his face.

 **I can’t lose you**.

“You’re not going to,” Eddie insisted. “Look, the world is a big, scary place, and I can’t promise I’m not going to get hurt again. But hiding isn’t the answer, and you can’t watch everyone. We can’t go on being afraid of everything and everyone. There’s no fun in life without a little risk. A life hiding away from the world isn’t a life worth living.”

The tentacles retreated further, until they were only holding, not binding. Venom floated up until he and Eddie were eye to eye.

“I don’t want to lose you,” it said.

“You’re not going to. It takes a lot more than a nutjob with a knife to take me out.”

“What if it happens again? What if I’m not looking and someone hurts you?”

“Well…we’ll know how to deal with it then. We’ll work on our reaction time, and we’ll have back up plans, and we’ll be more careful during my interviews. Okay?”  

Venom didn’t answer at first.

“Next time, you let me fix you,” it said.

“Okay. Next time, you can fix me. We’ll say he missed, or something. Or we’ll tell him Mrs. Chen’s whatever works really well.”

“Do not drink those,” Venom ordered. “I do not trust them.”

“Yeah, don’t worry.” Eddie had already forgotten which jar was which. Then he smiled and bumped his forehead against Venom’s. “You’re _my_ loser,” he said. “Don’t forget that.”

“Not as big a loser as you,” Venom said, and dragged its tongue over Eddie’s face, making him sputter and flail.

“Aw, _gross_ , V!”

Venom sniggered and retreated inside of Eddie.

 **Five thirty** , it said. **You need to eat food to take your medication.**

“Okay. Chicken nuggets and tater tots, coming up.”

 **And vegetables!** Venom said. **Anne brought them. You _will_ eat them. **

“ _You_ eat them.”

**Ew, gross, no way.**

 

A few hours later, Eddie was on the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him. The plate by his feet had only crumbs, and the chocolate bar from Mrs. Chen was just a crumpled up wrapper. _War of the Worlds_ had reached the credits, but Eddie was too full and content to shut it off. Venom was curled up on his lap and purring like the worlds weirdest cat as Eddie rubbed his fingers over it.

“You know I don’t think you’re a parasite, right? Not really.”

Venom opened an eye and looked up at him.

“I’m just teasing you. You’re not a parasite. I need you as much as you need me.”

Venom’s purring got louder, and several tentacles reached up to tangle around him in a hug.

**I know.**

 

   


End file.
